Topic: Is the Bible Still the Word of God? Posted: 06 August 2009 at 1:09pm

Sometimes a different objection is raised.
Some feel that the Bible was the Word of God, but it has been distorted
and corrupted by men so that now we can no longer trust it. Can this be true?

Let us repeat a verse from the
Qur’an. But now we will discuss it from a different
angle. “After those prophets We sent forth Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming
the Torah already revealed, and gave him the Gospel, in which there is guidance
and light, corroborating that which was revealed before it in the Torah, a
guide and an admonition to the righteous. Therefore let the followers of the
Gospel judge in accordance with what Allah has revealed therein. Evil-doers are
those that do not base their judgements on Allah’s revelations.”—Sura 5, Al-Ma’ida
[The Table], verses 46, 47. (The Qur'an also accepts Jesus as the son of God,just as it does Adam)

If, at the time these words were
written, the Bible had already been corrupted, how could believers in the
Gospel ‘judge in accordance with what Allah had revealed therein’? Thus
believers in the Qur’an accept that the Bible was uncorrupted at the time the
Qur’an was written (about one thousand three hundred years ago). On the other
hand, there exist manuscripts of the Bible written four hundred or five hundred
years before that time that are on public display in museums today. When
comparing our modern Bibles with these ancient manuscripts, it is easily seen
that there is no significant difference. The Bible is substantially the same.
Certainly, the Bible has not changed since those words were written in the
Qur’an saying that in the Gospel “there is guidance and light.”

Thus, a person who believes in the
Qur’an will agree that the Bible has not been corrupted and that it is still
the Word of God. But even for people who do not believe in the Qur’an there is
abundant proof that the Bible has not been corrupted by men since its original
writing. What proof? Ancient manuscripts.

Regarding the preserving of the
Greek Scriptures (Injil) until our day, a scientist pointed out: “The
interval then between the dates of original composition and the earliest extant
evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation
for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they
were written has now been removed.” (TheBibleandArchaeology,
by Sir Frederic Kenyon) Sir Frederic Kenyon is here expressing the widely
accepted fact that we can read in the Greek Scriptures (Injil)
substantially what the original writers, under inspiration, put there. There
has been no gross distortion.

Regarding the Hebrew Scriptures (Tevrat),
the external proof is equally strong that they have been preserved faithfully.
The ancient copyists of those scriptures were renowned for their accuracy.
Today there are seventeen hundred ancient manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures
of the Bible in existence, and comparison shows them to be substantially the
same. In 1947, some very ancient manuscripts were discovered in the region of
the Dead Sea. They included some that were a
thousand years older than any hitherto extant. Yet a comparison of these
ancient manuscripts with our modern Bible shows little significant variation,
especially with regard to teaching and doctrine. After examining these newly
discovered ancient documents, Professor Millar Burrows said: “The general
reader and student of the Bible may be satisfied to note that nothing in all
this changes our understanding of the religious teachings of the Bible
. . . The essential truth and the will of God revealed in the Bible,
however, have been preserved unchanged through all the vicissitudes in the
transmission of the text.”—TheDeadSeaScrolls, by Millar Burrows.

Is this not reasonable? Should we
not expect that the Almighty God would be able to preserve his Word
uncorrupted? The Bible itself says: “The green grass has dried up, the blossom
has withered; but as for the word of our God, it will last to time
indefinite.”—Isaiah 40:8.

Unfortunately, because the Quran contradicts the Bible, the Bible must be "corrupt."

(I won't get into the logical fallacies required to justify that belief.)

salaams

and what of Paul? Jesus reafirms the law and states in Matthew 5:18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter,not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

but Paul nullifies the law when he states

Galatians 3:11Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."also

Galatians 3:23Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.

Romans 3:28For we maintain that a man is justifiedby faith apart from observing the law.

Galatians 2:16know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

So how do you think jesus {p} would think of paul making the law dissapear?

All these above texts presuppose the availability of the true revelation of God to the people of Muhammad's day.

-Sura 3:71,93; 10:94; 21:71

A true Muslim is obliged to believe in all the revelations of God. Sura 2:136; 4:136; 29:46

The Quran makes no distinction between God's revelations

Sura 2:136

Many luminaries of 'Islam' believe the Bible to be true:

1. Ali
al Tabari (d 855) who accepted the Gospel
texts

2. Al
Bukhari (810-870)

3. Al
Mas'udi (956)

4. Abu
Ali husain bin Sina (1037)

5. Al
Ghazali (1111) who did not accept his
teachings

6. Ibn
Khaldun (1406) ditto.

It is not up to the People of the Book to prove their Book is uncorrupted but up to the Muhammadans
to do so based on any 'original' book that would show these corruptions.

I'll wait for you or anyone to produce that book with the corruptions, or does it just sound nice to repeat what you heard over and over again without even asking or showing a shred of evidence to support your argument.

Thank you

Edited by Shibboleth - 22 August 2009 at 8:17pm

“If you doubt what we have revealed to you, ask those who have read the Scriptures before you.” (Sura 10, Yunis [Jonah], verse 94) & (Surah Al ‘Imran: 84-85)

"Unfortunately, because the Quran contradicts the Bible, the Bible must be "corrupt."

WOW! Putting the 'cart' before the 'horse'

Real science!

Actually that is the real reason why Muslims believe the Bible to be corrupt. Even if there were no contradictions, no scientific errors, no historical inconsistencies in the Bible, Muslims would still believe Bible to be corrupt because it contradicts the Quran. But your cart/horse analogy does not work here. A better explanation is that Muslims believe Quran to be the word of God for various reasons. So if any book contradicts it, it has to be wrong.

Say:"It is Allah Who originates creation and repeats it: then how are ye

deluded away (from the truth)?"

Allah is telling prophet Muhammad to ask the pagans of Makkah whether their

gods had the capability to create something from nothing and then reproduce

it? Polytheists generally consider even their gods to be limited in power.

This verse underlines that fact. No reference to the gospel/torah here.

I think you are referring to 10:94, not 10:34. But before discussing that, let me give you the Muslim perspective of the Bible. We believe that those parts of the Bible which match with the Quran may be God’s word e.g prophecies regarding prophet Muhammad. Those parts which conflict Quran are certainly not God’s word e.g God resting on the seventh day (in Islam God does not require rest). Those portions which neither conflict with Quran nor agree with it may or may not be God’s word. But as a whole, Muslims do not require the Bible since we have the Quran which is complete guidance to us. Now as for the context of Chapter 10 of Quran, it tells us the story ofprophet Moses in the context. It was impossible for an illiterate man in the middle of the desert to be aware of that story. So after the narration, Allah tells us that prophet Muhammad is not making this story up. You can go and ask the Jews about prophet Moses. They will tell you pretty much the same story.

010.094 If thou wert in doubt as to what We have revealed unto thee, then ask those who have been reading the Book from before thee:the Truth hath indeed come to thee from thy Lord: so be in no wise of those in doubt.

Al-Qur'an, 010.094 (Yunus [Jonah])

Text Copied from DivineIslam's Qur'an Viewer software v2.910

This verse does not say that no one can change God’s word. I have no idea how you came up with that.

A true Muslim is obliged to believe in all the revelations of God. Sura 2:136; 4:136; 29:46

Completely agree here. We should believe in all previous revelations of God and not their corrupted and unauthentic forms.

The Quran makes no distinction between God's revelations

Sura 2:136

Let me take a stab in the dark. You have never read Quran in context. You have never read these verses carefully or in context. Am I right?

002.136 Say ye: "We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: And we bow to Allah (in Islam)."

Al-Qur'an, 002.136 (Al-Baqara [The Cow])

Text Copied from DivineIslam's Qur'an Viewer software v2.910

Here Allah is telling us not to distinguish between messengers, meaning I cannot say that I believe in Muhammad but I don’t believe in Jesus. Where did you get the idea that Quran makes no distinctions between God’s revelations?

1. Ali al Tabari (d 855) who accepted the Gospel texts

2. Al Bukhari (810-870)

3. Al Mas'udi (956)

4. Abu Ali husain bin Sina (1037)

5. Al Ghazali (1111) who did not accept his teachings

6. Ibn Khaldun (1406) ditto

Even I will accept the ”Gospel text” if the gospel here is the gospel of Jesus revealed by God. But by gospel if you mean gospels of Mark, Luke, John, Mathew then all Muslims along with many historians agree that these scriptures have been corrupted and we don’t even know who their true authors are.

In reality it is not up to the People of the Book to

prove their Book is uncorrupted

I agree. Why should you be given a task which is

impossible?

but up to the Muhammadans to do so based on any 'original'

book that would show these corruptions.

I’m not sure what you mean by “Muhammadans”. But anyway, Muslims don’t

need to disprove the Bible by presenting another original book which has been

lost by Christians. They can simply do that by pointing out scientific and

Long story short Ali; was the Bible corrupt when Muhammad received the 'revelation of the Torah, Psalms and Gospel?' Just answer the question....

BTW;

Ibn Ishaq who wrote the earliest biography (Sirat) of Muhammad. He clearly
indentifies the Gospel mentioned in the Qur'an as what Christians call the New
Testament.

Among the things which have reached me about what Jesus the
Son of Mary stated in the Gospel which he received from God for the followers
of the Gospel, in applying a term to describe the apostle of God, is the
following. It is extracted from what John the Apostle set down for them when
he wrote the Gospel for them from the Testament of Jesus Son of Mary (Ibn
Ishaq's "Sirat Rasulallah", translated as "The Life of
Muhammad", by A. Guillaume, Karachi: Oxford, 1998, pp. 103-104, bold
added.)

All you new 19th century followers are just changing what was previously said centuries ago to fit your own belief belief, going against your own holy book and your own prophet and your own god.

“If you doubt what we have revealed to you, ask those who have read the Scriptures before you.” (Sura 10, Yunis [Jonah], verse 94) & (Surah Al ‘Imran: 84-85)

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